# Saint Winifred > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Saint_Winifred > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Saint_Winifred.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Winifred > Source revision: 1356705320 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Welsh Christian martyr}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}} {{Use British English|date=November 2015}} {{Infobox saint |honorific_prefix=[Saint](/source/Saint) |name=Winifred or Winefride |birth_date= |death_date={{circa|lk=no}} 7th century |feast_day=3 November |venerated_in={{ubl|[Anglican Communion](/source/Anglican_Communion)|[Eastern Orthodox Church](/source/Eastern_Orthodox_Church)|[Roman Catholic Church](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church)}} |image= Castell Coch stained glass panel 4.JPG |imagesize= |caption= Stained glass depiction of Winifred, designed by [William Burges](/source/William_Burges), at [Castell Coch](/source/Castell_Coch), [Cardiff](/source/Cardiff) |birth_place=[Tegeingl](/source/Tegeingl) (modern-day [Flintshire](/source/Flintshire)) |death_place=[Gwytherin](/source/Gwytherin) (in modern-day [Conwy](/source/Conwy_County_Borough)) |titles=[Virgin](/source/Virgin_(title)) and [martyr](/source/martyr) |beatified_date= |beatified_place= |beatified_by= |canonized_date= |canonized_place= |canonized_by= |attributes=Abbess, holding a sword, sometimes with her head under her arm |patronage=[Holywell](/source/Holywell%2C_Flintshire); against unwanted advances, [Diocese of Shrewsbury](/source/Diocese_of_Shrewsbury) |major_shrine=[Shrewsbury Abbey](/source/Shrewsbury_Abbey), now destroyed although a small part of the shrine base survives. [Holywell](/source/Holywell%2C_Flintshire), fully active holy well and well-house shrine. |suppressed_date= |issues= |prayer= |prayer_attrib= }} '''Saint Winifred''' (or '''Winefride'''; {{langx|cy|Gwenffrewi}}; {{langx|la|Wenefreda, Winifreda}}) was a [Welsh](/source/Wales_in_the_Early_Middle_Ages) [virgin martyr](/source/virgin_martyr) of the 7th century. Her story was celebrated as early as the 8th century, but became popular in England in the 12th, when her [hagiography](/source/hagiography) was first written down. A healing [spring](/source/spring_(hydrosphere)) at the traditional site of her decapitation and restoration is now a shrine and pilgrimage site called [St Winefride's Well](/source/St_Winefride's_Well) in [Holywell](/source/Holywell%2C_Flintshire), [Flintshire](/source/Flintshire), in [Wales](/source/Wales) and known as "the [Lourdes](/source/Lourdes) of Wales", which was granted the status of National Shrine for England and Wales in November 2023.[Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales](/source/Catholic_Bishops'_Conference_of_England_and_Wales), [https://www.cbcew.org.uk/short-plenary-resolutions-autumn-2023/ Plenary Resolutions: Environment, St Winefride, Eucharistic Congress and Conflict in Gaza], published 17 November 2023, accessed 22 November 2023 ==Life and legend== [[File:Shrewsbury Cathedral (37121758344).jpg|thumb|left|[Stained glass](/source/Stained_glass) window depicting the martyrdom of Winefride (by [Margaret Agnes Rope](/source/Margaret_Agnes_Rope), west window, [Shrewsbury Cathedral](/source/Shrewsbury_Cathedral), 1910)]] The oldest accounts of Winifred's life date to the 12th century.Paul Burns, '' Butler's Saint for the Day'' (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=KGKtAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA511 p. 511]. According to legend, Winifred was the daughter of a chieftain of [Tegeingl](/source/Tegeingl),[http://cistercian-way.newport.ac.uk/place.asp?PlaceID=257 "St. Winifred", The Cistercian Way] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927032053/http://cistercian-way.newport.ac.uk/place.asp?PlaceID=257 |date=27 September 2013 }} Welsh nobleman Tyfid ap Eiludd. Her mother was Wenlo, a niece of [Saint Beuno](/source/Saint_Beuno), and a member of a family closely connected with the kings of south Wales.{{citation-attribution|1=[https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15656a.htm Chandlery, Peter. "St. Winefride." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 14 May 2013]}} According to legend, her suitor, Caradog, was enraged when she decided to become a nun and when she refused his advances, he [decapitated](/source/Decapitation) her. A healing spring appeared where her head fell.{{Cite book|last=Rees|first=Rice|author-link=Rice Rees|year=1836|contribution=Legend of Gwenfrewi or St. Winefred|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H8IclDShLSYC&pg=PA295|title=An Essay on the Welsh Saints|publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, Rees|publication-date=1836|publication-place=London|pages=295–297}} Winifred's head was subsequently rejoined to her body due to the efforts of Beuno, and she was restored to life. Seeing the murderer leaning on his sword with an insolent and defiant air, Beuno invoked the chastisement of heaven, and Caradog fell dead on the spot, the popular belief being that the ground opened and swallowed him. Beuno left Holywell, and returned to [Caernarfon](/source/Caernarfon); before he left, the tradition is that he seated himself upon a stone, which now stands in the outer well pool, and there promised in the name of God "that whosoever on that spot should thrice ask for a benefit from God in the name of St. Winefride would obtain the grace he asked if it was for the good of his soul." After eight years spent at Holywell, Winifred received an inspiration to leave the convent and retire inland. Accordingly, Winifred went upon her pilgrimage to seek a place of rest. Ultimately she arrived at Gwytherin near the source of the River Elwy. She later became a nun and [abbess](/source/abbess) at [Gwytherin](/source/Gwytherin) in [Denbighshire](/source/Denbighshire). More elaborate versions of this tale relate many details of her life, including Winefride's pilgrimage to [Rome](/source/Rome). Given the late date of the earliest surviving written accounts of Winifred's life, her existence has been doubted since the 19th century. She is not recorded in any Welsh pedigree of saints nor in the 13th-century calendar of Welsh saints.Sally Hallmark (2015), ''Gwenfrewy the Guiding Star of Gwytherin: From Maiden and Martyr to Abbess and Saint – The Cult of Gwenfrewy at Gwytherin'', MA thesis (University of Wales), p. 20. There is, however, evidence of her cult from centuries before the appearance of her first hagiography. Two small pieces of an oak reliquary from the 8th century were discovered in 1991 and identified based on earlier drawings as belonging to the ''Arch Gwenfrewi'', the reliquary of Winifred.[https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/43867 Arch Gwenfrewi], People's Collection Wales. The reliquary probably contained an article of clothing or another object associated with the saint, but not her bones. According to historian Lynne Heidi Stumpe, the reliquary provides "good evidence for her having been recognized as a saint very soon after her death",Lynne Heidi Stumpe (1994), "Display and Veneration of Holy Relics at St Winefride's Well and Stonyhurst", ''Journal of Museum Ethnography'', No. 22, p. 67. and thus of her historicity.Roy Fry and Tristan Gray Hulse (1994), [https://web.archive.org/web/20071012230927/http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/living-spring/sourcearchive/ns1/ns1tgh2.htm "Holywell – Clwyd"], ''Source – the Holy Wells Journal'', Issue 1. Archived from ''Source Archive Online''. The reliquary may even be "the earliest surviving testimony to the formal cultus of any Welsh saint".Janet Bord (1994), "St Winefride's Well, Holywell, Clwyd", ''Folklore'', '''105'''(1–2), p. 100. ==Veneration== Veneration of Winifred as a martyr saint is attested from the 12th century. She is mostly venerated in England, not in Wales, which led [Caesar Baronius](/source/Caesar_Baronius) to list her as an "English saint" in his ''Roman Martyrology'' of 1584. In 1138, [relic](/source/relic)s of Winifred were carried to [Shrewsbury](/source/Shrewsbury) to form the basis of an elaborate [shrine](/source/shrine).{{cite book |last=Cormack |first= Margaret |title=Saints and their cults in the Atlantic world |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |location=Columbia, S.C |year=2007 |pages= 204–206|isbn=978-1-57003-630-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ker_beVinJ8C&dq=%22Saint+Winefride%22&pg=PA204}} The [Church of St. Winifred, Stainton](/source/Church_of_St._Winifred%2C_Stainton) is a 12th century church located in the village of [Stainton, South Yorkshire](/source/Stainton%2C_South_Yorkshire), [England](/source/England).{{NHLE|num=1286289|desc=Church of St Winifred|access-date=19 November 2018}} ===Cult=== [[File:Prologue life of St Winifred.png|thumb|Part of the prologue of a life of St Winifred by [Robert of Shrewsbury](/source/Robert_of_Shrewsbury_(died_1168)) (Bodleian Mss. Laud c.94.)]] The details of Winifred's life are gathered from a manuscript in the British Museum, said to have been the work of the British monk, Elerius, a contemporary of the saint, and also from a manuscript life in the Bodleian Library, generally believed to have been compiled in 1130 by [Robert, prior of Shrewsbury](/source/Robert_of_Shrewsbury_(died_1168)) ({{abbr|d.|died}} 1168). Prior Robert is generally credited with greatly promoting the cult of St. Winifred by translating her relics from [Gwytherin](/source/Gwytherin) to Shrewsbury Abbey and writing the most influential life of the saint.{{Cite book|last=Robert [Prior of Shrewsbury]|first=Falconer, John (trans.), Baes, Martin (engr.)|url=https://archive.org/details/wotb_3583881|title=The Admirable life of Saint Wenefride virgin, martyr, abbesse. Written in Latin about 500 yeares ago, by Robert, monke and priour of Shrewsbury, of the Ven. Order of S Benedict. Devided into two books. And now translated into English, out of a very ancient and authenticall manuscript, for the edification and comfort of Catholikes. By I.F. of the Society of Jesus|publisher=[Saint-Omer : printed by the English College Press]|year=1635}}{{citation-attribution|1=[https://archive.org/details/historyofshrewsb02owen Owen, Hugh and Blakeway, John Brickdale. ''A History of Shrewsbury'', vol. 2, London. Harding Leppard. 1825]}} The chronicler [John of Tynemouth](/source/John_of_Tynemouth_(chronicler)) also wrote of Winifred. To further enhance the prestige of the Abbey, [Abbot Nicholas Stevens](/source/Abbots_of_Shrewsbury) built a new shrine for St. Winifred in the 14th century, before then having some monks steal the relics of St. Beuno from [Rhewl](/source/Rhewl_(River_Dee%2C_Denbighshire)) and installed in the abbey church. Although the abbey was fined, it was allowed to keep the relics.Angold, M J, et al. "Houses of Benedictine monks: Abbey of Shrewsbury." ''A History of the County of Shropshire'', Volume 2. Eds. A T Gaydon, and R B Pugh. London: Victoria County History, 1973. 30–37 [William Caxton](/source/William_Caxton)'s 1483 edition of the [Golden Legend](/source/Golden_Legend) includes the story of St. Winifred. The following year, he printed a separate "Life" of the saint. [[File:Treffynnon.JPG|thumb|[St Winefride's Well](/source/St_Winefride's_Well) in Holywell, one of the oldest continually visited pilgrimage sites in Britain]] The shrine and well at Shrewsbury became major [pilgrimage](/source/pilgrimage) goals in the [Late Middle Ages](/source/Late_Middle_Ages), but the shrine was destroyed by [Henry VIII](/source/Henry_VIII_of_England) in 1540. [St Winefride's Well](/source/St_Winefride's_Well) in [Flintshire](/source/Flintshire), originally formed from a mountain spring, is housed below the town on the side of a steep hill. The well precinct also houses an 'Interpretive Exhibition', setting forth the story of the saint and her shrine in detail; the Victorian former custodians' house has also been converted to house a museum of the pilgrimage.[http://www.saintwinefrideswell.com/#/about-the-well/4569900184 St. Winifride's Well, Holywell, Flintshire] The site is managed by [Cadw](/source/Cadw). St Winefride's Holy Well at Holywell Farm in Cheshire is one of a number of holy wells dedicated to St Winefride which were placed to mark the route of her remains when they were taken from Holywell in Clwyd, where she was martyred, to Shrewsbury Abbey.[https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1018702?section=official-list-entry "St Winefride's Holy Well at Holywell Farm", Historic England] It is a listed monument. [[File:St Winifreds Well Woolston.JPG|thumb|St Winifred's Well, a 14th-century former well chapel, [Woolston](/source/Woolston%2C_north_Shropshire), Shropshire]] Another well named after St. Winifred is found in the hamlet of [Woolston](/source/Woolston%2C_north_Shropshire) near [Oswestry](/source/Oswestry) in [Shropshire](/source/Shropshire). According to legend, it is thought that on her way to [Shrewsbury Abbey](/source/Shrewsbury_Abbey), Winifred's body was laid there overnight and a spring sprang up out of the ground. The well is covered by a 15th-century half-timbered cottage. The water flows through a series of stone troughs and into a large pond, which then flows into a stream. The cottage is maintained by the [Landmark Trust](/source/Landmark_Trust).{{cite web |url=https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/search-and-book/properties/st-winifreds-well-11830|title=St Winifred's Well|publisher=[Landmark Trust](/source/Landmark_Trust)|access-date=9 November 2015}} A spring on [Lansdown Hill, Bath](/source/Lansdown%2C_Bath) was known as St. Winifred's Spring and gave its name to nearby Winifreds Lane. There appears to be no known connection to the life of the saint, but its waters were once supposed to help women conceive.{{cite web|url=http://idox.bathnes.gov.uk/WAM/doc/BackGround%20Papers-194148.pdf?extension=.pdf&id=194148&location=VOLUME1&contentType=application/pdf&pageCount=1|title=Historical and Archaeological Building Report on Somerset Place, Sion Hill, Bath|publisher=B&NES Council|access-date=13 October 2014|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171510/http://idox.bathnes.gov.uk/WAM/doc/BackGround%20Papers-194148.pdf?extension=.pdf&id=194148&location=VOLUME1&contentType=application%2Fpdf&pageCount=1|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/living-spring/sourcearchive/ns1/ns1tgh4.htm|title=The Other St Winifred's Wells|last1=Fry|first1=Roy|last2=Gray Hulse|first2=Tristan|publisher=Source: the Holy Wells Journal, n.s. 1, Autumn 1994|access-date=13 October 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113335/http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/living-spring/sourcearchive/ns1/ns1tgh4.htm|url-status=dead}} A Norman church of [Saint Winifred's](/source/Saint_Winifred's_Church%2C_Branscombe%2C_Devon) can be found in the village of [Branscombe, Devon](/source/Branscombe%2C_Devon). There is some archaeological evidence to suggest an earlier [Saxon](/source/Anglo-Saxons) church may have occupied the site.[https://holyford.org/churches/branscombe/ "The Parish Church of St Winifred, Branscombe", Holyford Mission Community] [St. Winifred's Well, Dublin](/source/St._Winifred's_Well%2C_Dublin) was built {{circa|1700}} on [Eustace Street](/source/Eustace_Street). It is presumed to be linked to the presence of Welsh and English merchants in the city.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dublininquirer.com/an-artist-goes-in-search-of-the-jervis-shopping-centre-lighthouse/|title=An artist goes in search of the Jervis Shopping Centre lighthouse|date=25 October 2023|website=Dublin InQuirer}} === Roman Martyrology=== In the 2004 edition of the [Roman Martyrology](/source/Roman_Martyrology), Winifred is listed under 2 November with the Latin name {{lang|la|Winefrídae}}: "At the spring located at Holywell in Wales, St Winefride the Virgin, who is outstanding in her witness as a nun".''Martyrologium Romanum'', 2004, Vatican Press (Typis Vaticanis), page 603. Winifred is officially recognised by the [Vatican](/source/Holy_See) as a person with a historical basis, who lived an exemplary religious life, but with no discussion of miracles which she may have performed or been healed by. As a 1st-millennium saint, she is recognised as a saint by popular acclaim, rather than ever being formally [canonized](/source/canonized). In the [liturgical calendar](/source/liturgical_calendar) of the [Roman Catholic Church](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church) for Wales,[https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/National/Wales1.shtml National Calendar for Wales], accessed 6 February 2012 Winifred is commemorated on 3 November, since 2 November is designated as [All Souls' Day](/source/All_Souls'_Day). ===Iconography=== Winifred's representation in stained glass at Llandyrnog and Llanasa focuses on her learning and her status as an honorary martyr, but the third aspect of her life, her religious leadership, is also commemorated visually. On the seal of the cathedral chapter of St. Asaph (now in the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff), she appears wimpled as an abbess, bearing a crozier, symbol of leadership and authority and a reliquary. === Feast days === * 22 (24) June – death anniversary,{{Cite web |last=Zeno |title=Lexikoneintrag zu »Wenefrida, S.«. Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon, Band 5. Augsburg ... |url=http://www.zeno.org/Heiligenlexikon-1858/A/Wenefrida,+S. |access-date=2023-06-10 |website=www.zeno.org |language=de}} * 30 October – feast day in Ireland{{Cite web |title=Oct 30 – St Winifred of Holywell in North Wales (died c. 650) |url=https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-winifred-died-c-650-of-holywell-in-north-wales/ |access-date=2023-06-10 |website=Catholicireland.net |language=en-US}} * 2 November – Roman Martyrology{{Cite book |last=Catholic Church |url=http://archive.org/details/MartRom2004 |title=Martyrologium Romanum (2004) |date=2004}} * 3 November – feast day in England and Wales{{Cite web |last=Online |first=Catholic |title=St. Winifred – Saints & Angels |url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=327 |access-date=2023-06-10 |website=Catholic Online |language=en}} ==References in fiction== St. Winifred's Well, termed {{lang|enm|"þe Holy Hede"}}, is mentioned in the medieval poem ''[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight](/source/Sir_Gawain_and_the_Green_Knight)'' (in Passus II). She also appears as a character in the [2021 film adaptation](/source/The_Green_Knight_(film)) of the poem, portrayed by actress [Erin Kellyman](/source/Erin_Kellyman).{{Cite web|last=Desta|first=Yohana|date=July 30, 2021|title=The Green Knight: Who Is Winifred, the Beheaded Ghost?|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/07/the-green-knight-saint-winifred|access-date=August 23, 2021|website=[Vanity Fair](/source/Vanity_Fair_(magazine))}} [William Rowley](/source/William_Rowley)'s 17th-century comedy ''[A Shoemaker a Gentleman](/source/A_Shoemaker_a_Gentleman)'' dramatises St. Winifred's story, based on the version in [Thomas Deloney](/source/Thomas_Deloney)'s story ''The Gentle Craft'' (1584). English poet [Gerard Manley Hopkins](/source/Gerard_Manley_Hopkins) memorialised St. Winifred in his unfinished drama, ''St Winifred's Well''. The moving of Winifred's bones to Shrewsbury is fictionalised in ''[A Morbid Taste for Bones](/source/A_Morbid_Taste_for_Bones)'', the first of [Ellis Peters](/source/Ellis_Peters)' [Brother Cadfael](/source/Brother_Cadfael) novels, with the plot twist that her bones are secretly left in Wales, and someone else is put into the shrine; St. Winifred is portrayed as an important character in all the books in the Brother Cadfael series. The celebration of her [Feast Day](/source/Calendar_of_Saints) provides the setting for two of the novels, ''[The Rose Rent](/source/The_Rose_Rent)'' and ''[The Pilgrim of Hate](/source/The_Pilgrim_of_Hate)''. The casket is stolen from its shrine in ''[The Holy Thief](/source/The_Holy_Thief)'', and the campaign to find and restore it propels the action. Throughout the series, the protagonist, Brother Cadfael – a Welsh monk at the English monastery at Shrewsbury – develops a "special understanding" with the saint, whom he affectionately calls "The Girl". Australian novelist [Gerald Murnane](/source/Gerald_Murnane) makes reference to St. Winifred in his novel ''[Inland](/source/Inland_(Murnane_novel)).'' St. Winifred appears as a spirit to Sir Gawain in the 2021 movie ''[The Green Knight](/source/The_Green_Knight_(film)).'' Winifred asks Sir Gawain to retrieve her severed head from a spring, which he does. He places the head in her bed with the rest of her skeletal remains, and she provides him with information regarding the identity of the Green Knight. ==Legacy== A bronze statue of St. Winifred by [George Edwin Bissell](/source/George_Edwin_Bissell) stands on Promenade Hill overlooking the [Hudson River](/source/Hudson_River) in [Hudson, New York](/source/Hudson%2C_New_York). It was presented to the city in 1896 by [John Watts de Peyster](/source/John_Watts_de_Peyster).[https://www.si.edu/object/saint-winifred-sculpture%3Asiris_ari_340954 "Saint Winifred, (sculpture)", Smithsonian] The statue had originally been planned as a fountain for the Watts de Peyster Hospital and Invalid Children's Home at Madalin, operated by the Women's Board of Domestic Missions of the Methodist Church, but the board found it couldn't spare the water. ==See also== * [Our Lady of Loreto and St Winefride's, Kew](/source/Our_Lady_of_Loreto_and_St_Winefride's%2C_Kew) *[St. Winifred's Well, Dublin](/source/St._Winifred's_Well%2C_Dublin), Ireland *[St Winifred's Well, Woolston](/source/St_Winifred's_Well%2C_Woolston), England ==Notes== {{reflist}} {{catholic|wstitle=St. Winefride}} ==Further reading== *{{Cite book |year=1853 |editor-last=Rees |editor-first=William Jenkins |editor-link = William Jenkins Rees |contribution=Life of St. Winefred |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOsOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA515 |title=Lives of the Cambro-British Saints |publisher=William Rees |publication-date=1853 |publication-place=Llandovery |pages=515–529 }} == External links == {{commons category|Saint Winefride}} *[https://www.holywell-town.co.uk Holywell website] *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20181230055336/http://www.newlifechurchholywell.org.uk/ Holywell Church website]}} *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/sites/holywell_town/ BBC Wales: Holywell] *{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Winifred, Saint|year=1905 |short=x}} * Seguin, Colleen M. (Summer 2003): [https://web.archive.org/web/20061230130534/http://spruce.flint.umich.edu/~ellisjs/Seguin.pdf "Cures and Controversy in Early Modern Wales: The Struggle to Control St. Winifred's Well"], ''North American Journal of Welsh Studies'', Vol. 3, 2 {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Winifred, Saint}} Category:7th-century deaths Category:People from Holywell, Flintshire Category:Welsh Roman Catholic saints Category:7th-century Christian saints Category:Year of birth unknown Category:7th-century Welsh women Category:Female saints of medieval Wales Category:7th-century Welsh people Category:Legendary Welsh people Category:Virgin martyrs --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Saint Winifred](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Winifred) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Winifred?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.